Bidcoin is a virtual curancy that can be traded on a pertuper netwark without the need to rely on any centralized operator or financial institution. New bit kinds are generated every time a computer identify the solution to a mathematical problem whose difficulty increases with network size. The history of all transactions is stored on this common data base, the block chain. And because everybody holds a copy of the chain, it is virtually impossible to fraudulently modify one single transaction.
Blockchain technology has gone mainstream. It earns huge amounts of column inches and airtime. Stories abound of Bitcoin millionaires and multimillion-dollar ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). New cryptocurrencies are launched every week. People who don’t entirely understand what they’re buying are rushing to purchase Bitcoin for fear of missing out, and recently the UK's Royal Mint announced its first ever blockchain-based non-fungible token, an NFT. Back in 2018, Intelligence Squared gathered crypto specialists to debate whether blockchain technology has a legitimate future or not, including Jamie Bartlett, author and analyst on the politics of the internet, blockchain expert Primavera De Filippi, Vit Jedlička, President of the micronation Liberland, and crypto journalist David Gerard. The host for this discussion was journalist, author and former BBC News Editorial Director, Kamal Ahmed.
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